Shift into Turbo: Second Gear
by Deets by Clay
Summary: Set 10 years after Divatox left earth, Justin Stewart found normalcy in Angel Grove - finishing College, made great friends and living with his loving father. That is until Divatox returns and threatens the world once again. With his powers available thanks to Storm Blaster it's up to Justin to form a team of rangers past and present to stop Divatox once and for all.
1. Highway to Hell - Part 1

Shift into Turbo: 2nd Gear

Highway to Hell - Part 1

Leaving school for the holidays didn't seem so weird anymore for Justin Stewart. He was in his senior year at Angel Grove University and - albeit, still years younger than his peers - he was only 21. He considered his life relatively normal these days, and despite being so young he has seen a lot of life - and death. Though his tenure as a Power Ranger wasn't that long, there were some things that just couldn't be unseen.

Like seeing former rangers Jason and Kimberly being lowered in to a pit of lava. Like T.J. choosing to detonate one of the Megazords to defeat one of Divatox's monsters. Like seeing the his friends blast away into space in a space ship. That moment in time sticks with him pretty heavily in particular. It was also the moment he decided he could no longer be a ranger. It's not as if the responsibility got to him or anything, but going to space as a 12 year old, it seemed a little crazy even for him.

And his dad got a great job and what kind of life would his dad have if his son went missing in space? At some point during his tenure, when Tommy Oliver and the first team passed the torch, Zordon and Demetria informed them that there would come a time when the powers would switch so that the rangers could assume normal lives again. Justin realized in that moment maybe that was his time. Except for when Storm Blaster came to him with his morpher and he was able to save his old friends from their current enemy. The fight never ends. Since then, however, he considered his life pretty vanilla.

Justin grabbed his bags as the final bell rang for his class and his professor dismissed as many of the students with a personal handshake as he could. He kept his eye out for Justin in particular and all but positioned himself in front of the former hero before he could leave class.

"Mr. Stewart," Professor Thomas said, his glasses resting at the edge of his nose as he looks down on his pupil. "Will you be taking my spring seminar? It seems that you have a proclivity for automotive engineering."

 _He has no idea_ , Justin thought. "I've had a lot of experience. But, no, I haven't made up my mind yet," he answered flatly.

Professor Thomas pushed his glasses up and pursed his lips, Justin recognized this as a sign of a lecture coming and that just couldn't happen right now, "Mr. Stewart, I – I,"

"But I think I'll go register right now and registration ends in like eight minutes so I better get down to the office before they close for the holidays." Justin said quickly, cutting him off. This was a smooth move as the professor's demeanor immediately changed and there was a glimmer in his eyes. It's not that Justin wasn't passionate about his major; which was automotive engineering, it's just that he wasn't sure how much harder he wanted to work in his last few months of college. His whole life he's been the smart, gifted kid ahead of the game. What was so wrong with maybe just taking it easy for once? He took this opportunity to duck out and cut the corner right out of the classroom door to freedom.

Looking around him he noticed a liberation in his fellow students. The stress of finals were over and everyone seemed revitalized and ready to spend time with the family. Justin was especially looking forward to this. In the last few years his Dad found love again and was planning to propose to her tonight; he trusted Justin with the ring which made timing even more important. It was 3 o'clock, which only gave him two hours to get there before it closes. But with Storm Blaster as his vehicle, that shouldn't be a problem.

As he made his way into the courtyard, he was greeted by a familiar face. Well, tackled might be a more accurate term. Before Justin could say hello, Quinn threw herself at Justin and wrapped her arms around him.

"We survived!" she said dramatically, Justin laughed as he helped her regain her footing. Quinn was easily his best friend these days, even though she was a little bit older. She had long blonde hair in a braid and hazel eyes that always seemed to catch the light, as far as Justin noticed anyway. Which was too much for his own liking. Only because he was more than sure that Quinn friend-zoned him, but from afar he could still admire the aspects that a friend really shouldn't.

"Ready for the break?" Justin inquired.

"Are you kidding? I plan on laying down the entire next three weeks. And then maybe rolling over once or twice. That's it," she said, laughing.

"Really? No expose on students in their hours on campus or some big story that the world has to know?" Justin said this facetiously.

"Even though there was some kind of weird thing that supposedly landed in the ocean a few nights ago, my loyal readers will just have to wait for the New Year," she replied. Quinn was head of the campus newspaper, the Angel Grove Gazette and she was known for including some really big stories, some not so school appropriate. She famously reported an affair between a student and teacher that also got her into the national news the two years prior. She meant business. But right now, even a good story, was the farthest thing from her mind.

"Yo, Justin!" both Justin and Quinn turn around to find their friend Tosh standing on the brick wall on the eastern part of the courtyard, just before the parking lot, waving dramatically toward them. He's a spectacle with his neon green outfit, which matching cap and headphones hanging around his neck.

"Well, isn't he just a scene," Quinn said. She wasn't wrong. Tosh was known for being a big partier on campus and a surprise to everyone - even himself - that he would be graduating on time. With his commitments to his fraternity Omega Lau Omega, to co-managing the Angel Grove Youth Center, needless to say he was pretty busy with a lot of noise. Tosh jumped down from the wall, his girlfriend, Shelby, looking almost embarrassed pulled him in for a kiss before heading to the parking lot.

"See you tonight, babe!" he said with a wink.

"Ew," Quinn said loud enough for him to hear.

"Don't be peanut butter and jealous, girl. There's enough of me to go around," Tosh replied.

"Yeah, I know. The entire girls swim team told me about it last year," Quinn said.

"You didn't have to go and put it in the paper," Tosh said.

"I did a public service, you know. The school needs to know what kind of bacteria would be going in the swim pool," she said; Tosh rolled his eyes and they both laughed.

"Anyway, you guys coming to my party tomorrow night? It's going to be out of this world!" Tosh said, getting louder and louder with every word so more students could hear him and simultaneously be reminded.

There was a moment of silence between the three of them, comfortable but brief. It finally settled on them that soon things would change. They only had a few months until the real challenge of "adulting" became a reality. No more school – at least, not for now. Justin was sure Tosh would still be throwing his parties and expanding his own event planning business. Justin was also sure that Quinn would be seen around the world, versus just Angel Grove, with her ambition to be a top journalist. Regardless, the status quo was nice but Justin knew too well that all good things must come to an end eventually. He was just thankful they had more time.

"Well, I have to get going here soon. Today is the big day for my dad," Justin said.

"Oh yeah, tell the old man congratulations for me," Quinn said.

"She has to say yes first," Tosh added and Quinn gasped before folding her hand into a fist and punching him in the shoulder. "Hey! Just sayin is all," Tosh laughed.

"Yeah, I think things will go great. But they won't happen at all if I'm late. I only have one job, I don't wanna screw it up," Justin said.

"It's reassuring to see a man who is responsible. Where can I find one of you?" Quinn said, batting her eyes and smiling coyly. Justin opened his mouth to say something and…nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"Craigslist," Tosh said and laughed and the moment was gone. Justin exhaled and shook his head.

"I'll see you both later," Justin said before taking off for his car, Storm Blaster.

"Don't be a stranger, call tomorrow!" Quinn shouted behind him. Justin more than likely would, because he couldn't help himself. As he entered the parking lot, Storm Blaster's head lights began going on and off the vehicle started making its signature noise. Thankfully most of the students just thought Justin was enthusiastically unlocking the vehicle with his key chain, but in reality Storm Blaster was thrilled to see him after 8 hours of being idle.

"Hey, Storm Blaster," Justin said, greeting the blue vehicle which resembled a rugged jeep. "Alright buddy, to the jewelry store. Today's the big day." Justin said and the car started itself right away. Out of habit, Justin placed his hands on the wheel, but the car always steered itself.

It was a nice afternoon, a bright sunny day with a light breeze that felt nice during the commute. Traffic was pretty light all things considered, but he's glad he left when he did. From campus, it took him and Storm Blaster about 45 mins to get back into the city Angel Grove. He pulled into Angels Jewelry Store at a metered spot that was still green. Cautiously he parked Storm Blaster and looked around at the timer which still had a half hour left.

"Score!" he exclaimed, he was short on change anyway. And Storm Blaster wouldn't appreciate getting a ticket.

As he entered the building he immediately thought he was too poor to ever be in there by himself. All the workers were dressed to the nines in black professional attire and the overall ambiance just screamed upper class. And there Justin was, in a simple blue shirt, wore out blue jeans and dirty sneakers. Not their ideal clientele.

"Can I help you?" Justin didn't want to look at gentleman greeting him, because the man's tone basically implied that he was more confused about Justin being there rather than actually wanting to help him.

"Yes you can," Justin said confidently and possibly even a little too loudly as he pulled out his father's receipt. "I'm here to pick this up," naturally it was crumbled and wrinkled beyond redemption but legible none-the-less.

"Of course," the man, appropriately named Jeeves, said curtly carefully clasping the paper with his thumb and index finger as if it were diseased. When he returned with the ring, he showed it for final approval which Justin replied with a thumbs up. "Excellent," said the man, void of any enthusiasm. As he was preparing it in the box, a woman – another customer – stepped over.

"My, my, what a beautiful ring. How long have you known the lucky girl?" the woman asked.

"I – uh. It's not for me. It's for my dad. Well, I mean, it's for his girlfriend more specifically." Justin said, feeling flustered for tripping over his words. But the woman's question certainly caught him off guard.

"Well surely you're not far behind. Do you have a lady in your life, young man?" she inquired. Justin blinked a few times, his expression blank, not sure why he was being probed in a topic he didn't like to discuss, much less with a stranger. He knew she wasn't being rude, it was just a nice old lady, so he relented and answered her.

"No, I don't," he sighed, the admission bringing him down more than he thought it would. He looked up at her and her expression changed from curious to concern.

"How old are you?" she asked suddenly.

"Uhm, I'm 21, ma'am," Justin said with a studdar. The woman then got really close and placed both of her hands on his face, his eyes growing wide taking note of her tight hold.

"21 and single, what's wrong with you?" She asked fretfully.

"I – I mean – I'm just picky? I'm not really, I don't know why I said that. I'm just…" he continued to babble on, unable to stop for some reason until the old woman finally cut him off.

"There's someone in your life. I know there is. Don't be afraid to ever say how you feel. You're a good, young man, I can tell. And blue eyes never hurt anyone," in addition to how weird this moment was, Justin couldn't tell if this woman was flirting with him, too – which would only be more horrifying.

"Ready?" Jeeves asked.

"YES," Justin said too loudly again and thankfully the woman released her hold on him but continued to smile.

"Don't forget what I said, now," the woman said as Justin took the bag from Jeeves.

"Good day, sir and thank you for stopping by," Jeeves said without looking at Justin and he walked out the store and got back into Storm Blaster which started up right away. He set the bag down in the passenger seat and thought curiously to himself.

"I don't know how this stuff happens to me," he mused out loud. "Alright buddy, let's get home," he said after his eyes looked down at his watch and he realized it was almost five. Storm Blaster all but hit the gas and reversed out of the parking spot and straight back onto the main road home.

As he pulled up, he took note of his father and Alicia's car parked in the driveway, right on time. He was about to take her out for an amazing night and he couldn't be happier for his dad. Justin just sat in his seat quietly for a few moments, taking in the changes about to come their way. He and his Dad have been through a lot together and he couldn't be happier that his Dad found someone after his Mom. Storm Blaster began making some noise, which was kind of out of character, but Justin just immediately dismissed it.

"What's up, Storm Blaster? Calm down, I'm getting out, I'm getting out," Justin said, popping the door and stepping out of the vehicle. Storm Blaster didn't quite calm down though and Justin shot the vehicle a look. "Calm down, we don't want to cause attention to ourselves," Justin said sternly. It seemed to work and walked up the driveway and began to approach the front door.

Before he placed his hand on the handle he stopped. A weird, foreboding sensation began to form in the pit of his stomach. He stopped, he took in a deep breath and exhaled. The feeling didn't subside. It was strange but it he felt as if something bad was happening or about to happen. But it was his home – his father was in there. It was the safest place he knew. Against his gut feeling, he shook his head and opened the door.

It was quiet, too quiet even. Perhaps it was coincidence.

Perhaps it wasn't.

"Dad, I'm home," Justin called out and he began walking down the hallway that led to the living room.

"Welcome home, darling," Justin froze. That voice, a sultry alto laced with venomous provocation. A voice that plagued mankind for a decent period of time. A voice of pure, unadulterated evil. It was Divatox. This was why Storm Blaster was acting funny.

Justin turned on his heels and saw Alicia, on the ground, bleeding from her forehead, smashed glass and broken furniture all around the house. Piranhatrons, at least half a dozen standing behind Divatox, who was sitting legs crossed in an arm chair, her hand placed on the back of Justin's fathers' neck.

"Dad…" Justin gasped and instinctively took a step closer to which Divatox made a mock sound of warning.

"One more step and daddy's neck goes snap," Divatox threatened behind a full smile. She seemed more crazy than usual. But it has been almost ten years since he last saw her, so that didn't help. But the look in her eyes, she wasn't crazy there was a blood lust.

"How are you here?" Justin demanded to know. "I heard,"

"Yes, yes, yes – how we all found the forces of good with Zordon's grace. Funny thing about grace is that it doesn't take much to fall from it," she said.

"Justin…get out of here…" his Dad said under his breath.

"Quiet you," Divatox applied more pressure to his neck, causing him to cry out in agony and cough up some blood. "What a shame, that will never come out of that carpet you know."

"Let him go, Divatox. You don't want him," Justin said, watching his Dad carefully.

"Oh, simple Justin. You've grown up but still simple minded I see. I told you I'd be back when I destroyed your precious power chamber. You rangers took everything from me. I had Earth and then I had to leave because more like you wouldn't stop popping up like zits everywhere. Then Zordon changed me for the worse. Little tip, the universe doesn't care if you changed and being good didn't satisfy me. I am who I am. I want Earth, I will have Earth. And more than that, I want you all to suffer," she squeezed his Dad's neck a little more and the man couldn't do anything but cry out in more pain.

Frustration. Anger. Rage. All building inside of Justin and he was helpless to do anything about it. His eyes narrowed and his heart broke with every sound his father made. This was all his fault. His ranger past was the reason his Dad was suffering in this moment.

"It's okay, Justin my sweet, it'll all be over soon," Divatox cooed lowly. This was a terrifying moment…and it was ruined for by an awkward humming sound that was getting closer. "What is that?" she demanded angrily. The humming stopped and then…

BANG!

A blue beam of energy blasted through the living room window, sending a Piranhatron in the air and into Divatox, knocking the chair backward and releasing Justin's father from her grasp. It was Storm Blaster, who was parked now in their front lawn which its cannon properly mounted once more.

"Nicely done, Storm Blaster!" Justin shouted before charging forward. A Piranhatron jumps forward and Justin quickly delivers a solid punch to its chest, sending it flying back and into an end table, breaking it. "That felt good," he said. Two more henchmen approached, one of them throwing a high kick that Justin was able to block and counter with a punch to the stomach. Another threw its arm forward, Justin ducked just in time for his arm to go flying over his head. Quickly, Justin gave the henchman a right hook to the face and then finished with a spin kick to the chest.

Storm Blaster roared outside and Justin jumped back as the car shot another beam from its cannon, hitting the other henchman and sending him flying into the back wall. Justin looked at Storm Blaster and nodded his head, thanking the vehicle. The car roared again and a blue light cascaded from the engine and to Justin's left wrist and right hand. The light dissipated and revealed his morpher and key. He hadn't looked at this in years, but it couldn't have come at a better time.

Divatox emerged from beneath her henchman kicking and yelling profanities until she got to her feet. Her eyes locked on the morpher in Justin's hand, wide with surprise.

"I destroyed your powers…" Divatox said, breathless.

Justin smiled and raised the key to his morpher, "Shift into Turbo!" A blue light cascaded and assimilated around his body, becoming once again the Blue Turbo Ranger.

To be continued


	2. Highway to Hell - Part 2

Highway to Hell – Part 2

The blue light faded from Justin's body revealing the Blue Ranger Turbo suit he donned years ago. Once upon a time it used to modify his height to make him more formidable, but now it wasn't necessary. The suit bonded with his adult body just fine. The Piranhatrons didn't know how to react to this change, and to save face didn't act intimidated in front of their master.

"Get him," said one of the Piranhatrons, charging forward with a rusty chain as his weapon. He swung it around Justin ducked and swept the foe's feet out from under him, causing him to fall on his back. Justin then spun around and delivered a powerful kick to another henchman, sending it the floor.

"Well, it's just a big old nostalgic party," Divatox said between gritted teeth. "We show up, we have the upper hand, you morph and seem to turn things around," Divatox was animated as she said this. Justin wasn't interested in her stroll down memory lane, it felt like she was stalling.

"Auto blaster!" from his holster, he pulled out his blaster and pointed it directly at Divatox. His gaze traveled from Divatox, to his Dad who was unconscious and to Alicia who was also just unconscious, he hoped. It seemed that she was still bleeding and would need medical attention immediately. The best bet would be getting it into Storm Blaster, but Divatox standing in the way makes that a challenge.

"You have changed, Justin," Divatox said, much to Justin's surprise. It wasn't as if she knew him. "You're not a little boy anymore. But you're not the only one who's changed…" the way she said that made Justin feel extremely uncomfortable. Her eyes became a neon blue and she raised her left hand and barely flicked her hand in Justin's direction, but it was enough to send him flying back into a wall.

"That's a new trick…" Justin mused to himself. He quickly raised his gun and blasted once, twice but Divatox deflected each blast with just the wave of her hand. Was she telekinetic now? What other powers did Divatox now possess – it wasn't enough that she was crazy.

"Another thing, you don't think I would have come here without my ace in the hole, did you?" She teased; Justin couldn't begin to think what she meant by that. She snapped her fingers which was followed by an uncomfortably loud thud.

"What was that…" the question was merely rhetorical, because he knew in a matter of seconds he would find out. And sure enough, the ground began to quake beneath him and the wall separating the hallway from the living room burst open, wood and debris flying everywhere as one of Divatox's monsters barged through it.

This monster was huge – as so many of them were. His primary colors were red and black. He had metallic red armor and one arm looked like a jackhammer versus a standard arm. His head also looked like a spiked tire, with big yellow eyes that burned like the sun. He charged forward again and Justin managed to roll out of the way – the monster kept going and his momentum took him through another wall that led to his bedroom.

"Wheeljack, right on time," Divatox cooed.

"Anything for you," Wheeljack responded, turning around.

"Bring the roof down on this place, leave nothing standing," she commanded.

"Like hell, Divatox. This is my home," Justin said, he redirected his blaster at Wheeljack and began opening fire. The monster took a few hits, but it wasn't too effective. "Time for an upgrade!" Justin put his blaster away and held out his hands, a blue light cascaded around his open hands. "Turbo Hand Blasters!" His command brought him his weapons, the dual guns, and he charged forward, opening fire.

"Stupid Ranger," Wheeljack seethed, taking the hits but slowly making his way forward through it. He raised his jack arm and brought it down on Justin, who managed to block it with one gun and with the other he blasted a clean shot to Wheeljack's chest, discombobulating the monster for a few moments. Justin immediately turned around to Alicia and helped her off the ground.

"Oh good, she's alive…" Justin said, noticing her still breathing. "Storm Blaster, get ready!" Justin made his way for the giant hole in the window created by the vehicle and Storm Blaster backed up and readjusted itself accordingly, allowing Justin to be able to place Alicia into the passenger seat.

"Wheeljack! You're letting them get away!" Divatox exclaimed, Wheeljack still incoherent from the close up attack.

"Alright Storm Blaster, get here to a hospital now! Come back for my Dad; I'll be fine, go!" Justin ordered and the vehicle sped away.

"No!" A raged Divatox yelled and she waved her arm again, sending Justin flying back into the wall. In an attempt to regain his footing, he reached for his hand blasters that had fallen out of his hands, but Divatox wasn't having any of that and she threw Justin away into another wall.

"Has she been hanging out with Darth Vadar or what…" Justin smirked after hitting the ground again. If that wasn't enough, Wheeljack regained his composure and charged forward, picking Justin up and slamming him on the ground two or three times in a row. Justin was then pinned against the wall with the monster delivering countless blows to Justin's stomach.

The pain was excruciating and Justin was just starting to remember some things about being ranger that he didn't miss. What he did miss right now were his teammates. Any one of them would do at this moment. He learned from them that being a ranger wasn't a solo act. When you go out on your own, you get pinned against a wall and turned into a punching bag by Wheeljack.

"Freeze!" a voice of authority suddenly yelled. "I said Freeze!" repeated the man when Wheeljack didn't listen. This time, the monster did but grunted angrily between his teeth. The police officer was alone and there was no sign of his vehicle, which was smart in the sense that he didn't want to bring attention to himself until he had to. But unfortunate in not letting anyone who could see the red and blue flashing lights that there was danger.

"Walk away, human…" Wheeljack warned. The officer didn't budge.

"Let the Blue Ranger go," The officer demanded and then he pointed his gun at Divatox, who made a mock sound of surprise at the bold move.

"No!" Justin tried to cry out, his voice hoarse and all the air being knocked out of him made for poor attempts at communication.

"You're Divatox, aren't you?" he asked.

"You remembered? How lucky does a girl get? You know I love a man in uniform," Divatox said.

"You're way too old for me," the officer sniped back; if Justin could laugh, he would have.

"Old?" Divatox held onto that word with a grudge.

"I was there when you started to attack Angel Grove ten years ago. The blue ranger saved me and my family. I vowed from that day that I would also try and protect those who couldn't fight for themselves. You should have stayed gone, Divatox. We didn't want you back," The officer's tangent touched Justin, he couldn't remember all the people he saved years ago, but the fact that someone remembered and was trying to do the same thing, it reinvigorated him.

"But you're not a ranger. You're a human. You want to know the biggest difference between a ranger and a human?" Divatox said, her voice venomous. "When I do this a human dies," she swings her arm at the officer and he goes flying through a wall, but not before opening fire, and a bullet grazing Divatox's shoulder. "Son of a…"

"No, Divatox…" Justin yelled hoarsely. "Turbo Sword…" In another flash of blue light, the final weapon in Justin's arsenal appeared in his hands and he quickly and repeatedly began slashing at Wheeljack, releasing his initial grip on Justin and then taking some serious hits. Justin kicked Wheeljack where his kneecaps would be, causing the monster to crumble forward in pain. Justin then rolled over the monster sent his blade straight through Wheeljack, piercing the armor on his back and going all the way through his chest.

"Well this has been fun. Not exactly how I planned it, but things should still end with a bang," Divatox teased. Two Piranhatrons grabbed Justin's father who was still unconscious and brought him back to Divatox.

"Let my father go, Divatox."

"I think I'll hold on to him for a while. Who knows, it could be fun. Oh and as a parting gift, I'll leave you with Wheeljack. He's the life of the party; He can really be, _explosive_." Justin turned his head and could hear what sounded like beeping in Wheeljack's chest.

"Damn it," Justin said under his breath. He turned to look back at his father, "Dad, I'm coming for you! Don't worry!"

"Tick tock, Justin!" Divatox said before snapping her fingers and in a splash of water, her, the piranhatrons and Justin's Dad disappeared before his eyes. The beeping became louder and Justin turned around and bolted for the window.

BOOM!

The explosion was massive, blowing out the entire house and slingshotting Justin across the front lawn, through the residential road and stopping in the back door of a black suburban. Justin fell to his knees and his de-powered, revealing torn clothing and cuts and bruises he maintained from the fight. Slowly he got up, the fire and blazing remnants of his home reflected in his eyes. This was his home…how could he let this happen? He closed his eyes to fight back tears that had no place in coming at all! Tonight was supposed to be so special. It was for his Dad, the nicest, most incredibly hard working person Justin knew. And Alicia…she was dragged into Divatox's revenge by association. And the officer, the innocent kid he once saved now dead. This wasn't supposed to happen.

Sirens filled the air and began to echo each other, which told Justin there was a lot of them. He was in no position to answer any questions now. He needed to check on Alicia and then he needed to find Storm Blaster, his only ally at the moment. The hospital was only a couple of miles away.

He started off with a run before shortly realizing that wasn't going to last long. The pain was far too much, so instead he settled for a half-jog, half-limp. Whatever he could do to get there. But, as he descended onto the street, all of the pain that he accrued had finally caught up with him. His vision became blurry, his breathing heavy until finally he fell to his knees and blacked out.

* * *

"Justin?" he felt like he heard that being said over and over again for some time. But it was just a word. Familiar, but it didn't mean anything until his senses returned to him. That word was his name. Damn, how out of it was he? – was his next thought. "Justin," his name was said again, this time he was able to recognize the voice. Her voice. But why was she here. With his eyes closed, he wasn't even sure where here was. But for her to be there meant that she knew he was hurt. Everyone must have known.

Slowly he opened his eyes, they were narrowed and he blinked more times than he would usually to get used to the light in the hospital room. Suddenly his other senses came back to him, more specifically smell. He hated the smell of hospitals, it was like pure ammonia and death and lemons. His eyes looked upward and he saw Quinn standing by his bedside, she took his hand into her own in that moment.

"Oh, Justin," she gasped, relief in her voice.

"Dude, you're alive," Tosh said.

"Barely," Justin said.

"No joke," Tosh added. "What happened?" his question, though valid wasn't something he could answer. He wasn't sure what anyone around his neighborhood had seen, but was pretty sure his identity was fine. He wouldn't be in a hospital room if the government thought he was a Power Ranger. Still, he couldn't tell his friends the whole truth.

"I don't really remember…" Justin said. "I don't even know how I got here…"

"Justin, your house was blown up. Do you remember that?" Quinn asked carefully. Justin didn't say anything, he did, but he needed to keep what he said under control. "It's all over the news. There's an ongoing investigation. They think it might be some kind of domestic terrorist attack."

"Well, that's one theory," Tosh said, unimpressed. "The other is…"

"Tosh, let's not go there right now," Quinn snapped at him, in response Tosh put his hands up, indicating that he would ease off and he sat down in one of the chairs in the room.

"Alicia," Justin said, "Is Alicia okay?"

"She's here," Quinn said, that didn't answer his question on her well-being, but at least she was getting medical help. "Your Dad…"

"My Dad…" Justin repeated.

"Justin, your Dad is missing. Do you remember seeing him? His car was still there but they can't find him," Quinn explained. They wouldn't find him. Only Justin could…

"Justin?" A police officer walked into the room with a nurse close behind him.

"The officer needs to speak with Justin, I'm going to need you two to step out for a few moments," the nurse instructed. Quinn squeezed Justin's hand, which kinda hurt but he didn't mind, before letting go and following Tosh outside. The nurse checked Justin's vitals and gave him a switch.

"What's this?" Justin asked.

"This will help with the pain. Just press this button if you need a little relief from it," she instructed. Once she left the room the police officer shut the door.

"Justin, I'm Officer Jackson. I'm here to talk to you for a little bit," he explained, Justin was afraid of this. A wave of guilt began to take Justin undertow as he remembered the officer that risked his life to help. This wasn't going to be easy. "How are you feeling?"

"Fantastic," Justin said, the sarcasm was accidental but what kind of question was that?

"I bet," said the officer, catching the sarcasm.

"Is Alicia okay?" he asked, the question catching the officer off guard.

"Unfortunately I'm not qualified to answer that…" he said.

"But you know and I need to know," Justin said and officer got the feeling that it wasn't a negotiation. If he wanted answers, he needed to provide some.

"She's in a coma. That's all I can say. The doctors can explain more to you, but she was badly injured. She's stable, which is good. But she hasn't woken up." This was a lot to process. Alicia, the new love of his father's life was in a coma and his father was captured. At least she was alive, which was more than he could say about his father…

"Justin," the officer began, "An officer was patrolling the neighborhood and made a distress call to the station. Officer Rodriguez reported seeing a vehicle with a cannon parked in the lawn and loud, violent noises coming from it. Strangely there were no witnesses to corroborate his story. When we found you, you were passed out across the street. Officer Rodriguez parked down the street, but didn't return to his vehicle. We believe he died in the explosion. Your father is also missing. Did you see either of them?"

At first, Justin didn't want to answer. But this gave him the opportunity to control the narrative.

"Yes," he answered. The officer seemed surprised by the answer and he took out his note pad and began jotting down. "I saw them both," Justin added before the officer could ask another question. "That's not all I saw. We were attacked. By Divatox. The Blue Ranger came to our aid, as did the officer. Divatox took my Dad. The Blue Ranger managed to get me and Alicia out of there, but not Officer Rodriguez…and I didn't see the Blue Ranger come out of the explosion either."

The officer didn't write any of this down and instead was frozen, like he had just seen a ghost. It was a hard pill to swallow; if Divatox was back, it meant a giant national security threat.

"Uhm," was all the officer said after a few moments of silence. Justin got a feeling that the officer was skeptical about his story, which was incredibly frustrating. While the biggest part of the story was omitted – namely he being the blue ranger – everything else was true.

"You should probably be writing this down," Justin said in an accidental rude tone.

"You said a lot there that I'm trying to, uhm," the officer was stumbling over his words.

"Which part? The part where Divatox is back. Or the Blue Ranger tried to save us?" Justin asked facetiously.

"Divatox," the officer began. "Divatox hasn't been seen in almost ten years. And the Blue Ranger? Just one ranger? Why not all the rangers?"

"Officer, I think you're missing the point. Divatox is back and she took my father. My father's girlfriend, soon to be fiancé, is in another room in a coma. My home was blown up and I'm feeling pretty…" Justin pressed the pain killer button and suddenly the sedation was kicking in, "well, I feel better than I look for the moment."

"You understand that this is a lot to process, right?" The officer said.

"Try living it," Justin countered.

"I want to ask you once if everything you said is true. If I deliver this report, it will create a widespread panic. Justin, is everything you said true? Is Divatox back?" The officer asked the question slowly, hoping for some kind of recant or change, yet there was a part of him that knew he wouldn't find that kind of relief.

"Yes, and he took my father," Justin replied definitively.

"Thank you. If I have any follow up questions, I'll be in touch. I'm very sorry for your loss. We'll keep you posted on the progress regarding your father. You try and get some rest now," The officer seemed indifferent with the result of their conversation and Justin didn't know if it was because of the medication or something else, but the conversation seemed really abrupt and short. He looked back at Justin and nodded his head before exiting the room.

Shortly after, Quinn returned and stood by Justin's side. Tosh had to leave but said goodbye before he left. It was just them now. She placed her hand on his face and smiled, "Are you okay?" He didn't answer.

After a couple of hours, the nurse let him get into a wheelchair and see Alicia. She was on a completely different floor, a more serious floor. Quinn wasn't allowed in the room but was willing to wait outside. Justin rolled into her room.

Alicia's head was bandaged up, her face had some clear bruising. Other than that she looked like she was sleeping. It's weird that being in a coma didn't add an additional physical difference that he could see. She was there. But she wasn't. That was the difference. She was probably terrified and had no idea what she was in for.

"I'm so sorry, Alicia," Justin took her hand into his, her clammy temperature catching him by surprise. "You're going to be okay and we're going to get my Dad back, I promise. Everything will be alright."

Justin sat with her for nearly an hour before Quinn poked her head in.

"The nurse took a break, so I thought now is my chance to check on you," Quinn rested her hand on the handle bars of Justin's wheelchair. "You're all over the news," she said.

"Great," Justin sighed. That didn't take long.

"Is it true? Divatox is back?" Quinn asked cautiously, not sure that she wanted to know the answer. Justin's silence said all she needed to know, though. "That must have been what crashed in the ocean a few days ago. I bet that was her. Did you mention that possible connection?" Quinn realized that she wasn't talking her writing staff right after she said it and then shook her head, "Sorry…once a journalist, always a journalist." She folded her arms, "It's a good thing the Blue Ranger was there."

"Yeah," Justin agreed.

"I know this a lot and I can't imagine what you're going through, with your Dad and your home. Are you alright?" Quinn asked, the concern in her voice was palpable.

"I'm okay. And she's going to be just fine," Justin said, he needed to say it out loud so he could believe it, regardless of knowing.

"Yeah, she will." Quinn agreed.

"Quinn, I need to get out of here," Justin said abruptly.

"Oh, okay, well we can head back to your room," she suggested.

"No, I mean I need to get out of here. Can you make a distraction?" Quinn placed herself in front of Justin and then knelt down.

"Justin, you can't just leave the hospital. Are you crazy?"

"Quinn, I'm fine, trust me, I'm alright. But I need to get out of here, just for a little while," he said. Quinn gave him a stern look.

"If you think I'm going to let you get out of here without me, then you're wrong. The nurse just went on break, it should be easy enough to get you out for a while. I hope she doesn't lose her job though, maybe I should leave a note…" Quinn began looking for stationary and pulled a pen out of her purse. She scribbled something down and then put it on the table next to Alicia.

"Seriously," Justin said.

"It's important that they know you're not missing either. You just took a walk around. A long walk around," Quinn said, winking her left eye. Justin smiled, he was lucky to have a friend like her. She got behind him and wheeled him out of the room.

"We should probably leave this here, actually. I don't need it. Plus it'll look less conspicuous if you're not rolling me out…" Justin got out of the chair and they pushed it into a corner and rounded to the elevator. They took it to the ground floor and then hurried out of the main reception at the E.R.

"Okay, my car's in the back," Quinn said presumptively.

"No, we'll take mine," Justin pointed to his car, Storm Blaster, parked in the distance. He was glad to see it was okay. Quinn gave Justin a curious look and followed him to his car. "Alright, get in." Quinn pulled open the passenger door and turned to Justin. Storm Blaster roared to life.

"You don't have your car keys," That wasn't a question, she remembered seeing a lot of Justin's personal belongings in his room, which they didn't make a pit stop to. Justin looked surprised at her observation.

"Oh, I don't need them…" he answered reluctantly.

"Justin…how is your car here?" Quinn asked. This question was more tricky, but completely valid.

"I drove Alicia here," he said instinctively, not realizing yet the whole that left in his story.

"But you were found outside your house. So you dropped off Alicia and then went back? Without your car? Your same car that doesn't need car keys to start?" She was asking a lot of good questions. Justin had to think fast before responding.

"Right, I…"

"Just one more question. Justin, are you the Blue Turbo Ranger?"

Justin blinked.

For a moment, he thought he hallucinated the question, but her expression was very serious. Her eyes glued to him, almost assaulting him for an answer. How did this happen? When he was kid he figured it would be more likely that he'd be found out, but no, it was when he was a supposed smarter, older adult that this occurred. What would the others have said about this? Surely he wasn't the first ranger to be found out by a friend…

"I…" he began, but a part of him was almost too exhausted to refute it.

"I knew it…" Quinn said, a smile curving on her lips. "I mean, I didn't put it together until just now, but I suspected immediately after the news. Your wounds, your bruising is more consistent with hand-to-hand combat. And if you were involved in an explosion like that without some kind of – I don't even know how to explain it – you would be far worse now then you are. And the car, it's not a normal car is it?"

"Right, I…"

"I've always kind of noticed that. I once saw you pull in and your hands weren't on the wheel, but I thought that was completely crazy. I mean, all of this is crazy. Justin, you're the Blue Ranger…" Quinn began to look at him in a way that didn't make him feel comfortable.

"I'm still me, Quinn. It's important you know that. I'm a person first. The same person you've known for years…" Quinn narrowed her eyes and then looked away, almost coming to a realization. "I'm not a story…"

"I'm sorry," she said, looking away. "It's a habit…when I find something like this out…oh wow," she said, almost as if the mystique of the situation had faded and now the reality set in. "Divatox, she targeted you after all these years."

"I think it's because I'm the only one still in Angel Grove. Where it at all started. But she has my Dad…I have to do something," Justin said.

"You're in no condition like this," Quinn said, aghast.

"No, I know. I need some help. That's where I'm going, so you don't have to come with me," Justin said, offering her an out.

"Are you kidding? You need me. You can't be alone right now. I've got your back," she smile and then quickly buckled herself in. Justin smiled back at her. He felt a little better knowing he had someone to share the secret with. "Where to?"

"We've got a drive ahead of us," Justin warned and then put his hands on the steering wheel. "Storm Blaster, it's time to find your friend."

The drive was about an hour and a half, would have been longer with traffic. They got lucky. The trip was filled with conversation that Justin didn't think he would enjoy, dredging up the past. But if Quinn was going to know the truth, she might as well know as much as possible. She was smart, definitely someone to have on his side.

When they pulled up to their destination, it was a surprise to Justin. The home was nice, but it was off a dirt road and off the grid completely. Maybe not a bad idea all things considered. They pulled into the driveway and parked next to a familiar face, or thing, rather.

"Lightning Cruiser," Justin said, "It's been a long time." The red sports car came to life and Storm Blaster and it exchanged what appeared to be communication. Quinn got out of the car and was awestruck.

"Is this one like yours?" she asked.

"A little different but yeah. They've been together for a long time," Justin answered.

"Where are we?" Quinn asked, just as she did so, the garage door to the home began to slowly open, revealing a person standing behind it. When the garage door was fully up, the man stepped into the sun. He hadn't changed too much.

"I was wondering when you would show up," the man said. He walked over to Justin and gave him a hug. "I'm glad you're okay, it's good to see you."

"It's good to see you, T.J." Justin said. TJ looked at Quinn and then back to Justin.

"Friend?" he asked.

"Friend," Justin replied. T.J. seemed satisfied with the answer and turned on his heel back into the garage.

"Come inside, I'm sure we have plenty to talk about."

Goes to hospital.

Alicia is in a coma.

Quinn and Tosh arrive, concerned.

Justin seeks out TJ and Lightning Cruiser.


	3. Perspective - Part 1

The Return

Part 1

"Wow," was all T.J. could offer after hearing Justin's side of what happened. Divatox's return to evil was one of the biggest surprises, not so much her behavior. But her alleged power boost was also something of a major concern. "She wasn't able to do that before," T.J. said of her described telekinesis.

"Imagine my surprise as I'm thrown across my living room," Justin agreed. T.J. leaned back in his chair, sipping on a glass of water, pondering all the new information. Justin looked at Quinn who seemed quite disturbed at all the information in full detail, but was trying to keep her poker face on. Justin admired her bravery, he knew this wasn't easy and any normal person probably would have run for the hills already.

"She said she would be back," T.J. said, reflecting on their final conflict with her at the power chamber many years ago.

"She wasn't lying," Justin added.

"I'm really sorry about your Dad. Do you have any idea where she might be keeping him?" T.J. asked, scratching his head.

"Maybe, something fell in the ocean about 50 miles off the coast of California a few days ago. That could be her ship," Justin said.

"Yeah, I heard that. It seems likely…" T.J. said. "And this whole thing is kind of making sense. We've been investigating a return of dark energy on several planets – we're going to be starting on the planet Grathas here soon. The others are waiting on me, actually." The others, meaning Cassie, Ashley and Carlos – and their new leader who Justin couldn't remember.

"How are the others?" Justin asked, he couldn't remember the last time he spoke to his former Turbo Rangers. After Zordon's destruction they all met up, but communication since has been sparse. It was a shame really. But they didn't really have anything in common anymore either. They were active rangers and Justin wasn't. Nothing personal.

"I think everyone is good. We're all handling the potential resurgence differently in our own way. But we have each other, which is the most important thing. Being a ranger can be kind of lonely," T.J. said, Justin knew this all too well, not having shared his experiences with anyone else up until a few hours ago.

"Excuse me, I don't mean to be rude, but may I ask you a question?" Quinn said, to the surprise of Justin. This was directed toward T.J.

"Sure," he replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Stop me if I'm wrong, but you were there when Astronoma attacked Angel Grove. You were the Blue Ranger, right? I was there…with my mom. She bravely announced to the world that she was the Yellow Ranger. I don't think she realized what she was doing until it happened. It was just in the heat of the moment."

"Yeah, it was me. Your mother was very brave, it takes a lot to stand up like that," T.J. said; Quinn smiled in return.

"Yeah, it does." Justin agreed. He also remembered that fateful day. Astronoma's forces were spread very thin, mostly focused on Angel Grove since that's where the Rangers were. Justin and his father were not there that summer, but watching the fight made him anxious. If Storm Blaster were with them on that trip, he probably would have joined in on the fight, but he didn't. He continued his reign of normalcy with his father.

"So you two were teammates before?" Quinn asked.

"Yup, back then Justin was the veteran ranger on the team," T.J. said, this made Justin laugh probably louder than he should have.

"Yeah, whatever. I was a 12 year old kid just trying to keep up," Justin said.

"We couldn't have done it without you, Justin. And we also wouldn't have been able to get to our next step without you either," TJ said. "I don't know if we ever told you that."

"Your next step?" Quinn asked; Justin wasn't able to cover their entire ranger history with her so there were many details on which she was left unclear.

"Yeah, right after the destruction of our Power Chamber, Divatox was summoned to space to aid in the fight against Zordon. We had to help him but we were powerless and we didn't know what to do. Justin had the bright of idea of commandeering a space ship from NASADA. Somehow he was able to convince the big guys there that the Power Rangers needed the ship."

"You're kidding me," Quinn said, completely floored.

"I kid you not; Justin made that happen. He didn't join us, but because of him we were able to get to where we needed to be and become Power Rangers again," T.J. explained.

"One thing I don't understand, if your powers were destroyed, how you were able to transform again?" Quinn asked.

"That's a good question," Justin replied; truthfully he wasn't sure.

"I can't say that I wasn't surprised to see you fully powered on Earth six months later," T.J. said. "But recently, that mission that I was on," T.J. started, but stopped realizing that Quinn didn't know about his Red Ranger mission a few years back, so he thought to start over. "A couple of years ago, I was asked to come back and be part of a special ops squad of previous Red Rangers. There were ten of us in all. Unfortunately, I didn't have my Red Ranger powers anymore. But then, almost like clockwork, Lightning Cruiser came to me and revealed my morpher. Just like how Storm Blaster did for you."

"I wonder if they were able to recreate the powers because their energy is made up of the same kind," Justin said. "I'm not sure that even made sense…

"I think I know what you mean," T.J. said. "Anyway, once I got the morpher I was able to participate. It was an honor to have both powers, but something started happening to me shortly after. I thought I could use both powers back and forth in our missions and it really started affecting me. As Rangers, our life forces bond with our morphers and the morphing grid and mine was being split into two."

"Like a Horcrux?" Quinn said. "Well, sort of. Never mind me – just a series of books I read once. Ignore me. Continue," Quinn's face was flush red, a sight that Justin wasn't used to seeing before.

"I realized I couldn't be both," T.J. concluded, Justin starred at him for a few moments and then looked down, almost as if all hope was lost. "I'm sorry Justin, I know why you're here, but I can't be the Red Turbo Ranger anymore. At least, not right now."

"I don't know what to do, T.J.," Justin said bluntly. A part of him was extremely disappointed by T.J.'s response, but another part of him understood. T.J.'s responsibility as a Space Power Ranger required him to be a force of good for not just Earth, but for the universe. Earth was his home, but it wasn't their priority. And Justin knew he didn't have a place to ask him to abandon his current mission and create any kind of strain with his team. The caveat to being that understanding was not knowing his own next step. "I don't think I can take her on by myself," he admitted.

"You're not alone," Quinn said, but that fell on deaf ears. Justin wasn't willing to put her in harm's way to solve this. T.J. opened the drawer to his table in front of him and pulled out the Red Turbo Morpher and set it in front of him.

"I'm not the Red Ranger…I'm not a leader," Justin said, pushing it back. T.J. exhaled and pushed the morper to Justin once more.

"You don't have to be, but you can find one," T.J. suggested and Justin scoffed. "Alpha 5 and Zordon placed their faith in five teenagers with attitude to save the world. I can't say that would be my first go to, but it worked. There are people out there that want to help. I was a transfer student and Cassie was an aspiring singer – Cassie, think about it – we weren't hero material. Then we saw Katherine being attacked and we just knew. We saved Tommy and the next thing we knew we were their successors. You don't have to look to hard to find good. It's everywhere."

"T.J. I just don't know if I can do it. I don't know where to start. And this is one morpher. Two Rangers can't take down Divatox. We had five and it wasn't enough," Justin argued.

"Everything happens for a reason Justin. I believe that. We lost that fight and we won a bigger war. We did experience peace for some time," T.J. said.

"But now she's back," Justin said. "And it's me against her and I don't know if I can do it."

"Give yourself more credit. It's been a few years, I get it. But the Justin I knew didn't have this defeatist mind set. You always believed in yourself," T.J. said, a little irritated.

"Yeah, that Justin didn't have his Dad kidnapped. It all changes when something like that happens," Justin said.

They continued to talk for a few more hours, discussing the possibilities of Divatox's next move and the Space Rangers plan for the coming weeks. Justin didn't feel as secure as he was hoping to feel after this meeting, but he had no choice but to deal with the cards dealt to him. T.J. walked Justin and Quinn out of his house and made sure Justin had the Red Turbo Morpher.

"I mean it, take it. You might be surprised with who you find," T.J. said followed by a pat on Justin's back. "And now you have Lightning Cruiser back on your team. He'll be there whenever you need him." Justin looked at Lightning Cruiser and then back at his former teammate. He offered him a smile.

"Thanks, T.J. – for everything. Give everyone my best," Justin said.

"I will. We might not be able to help right away, but I'll see what we can do to help you down the line if you need it," T.J. said.

"That'd be great," Justin replied, he knew that T.J. might not be able to keep that promise, but took it as it was and hoped for the best.

"It was so great to meet you," Quinn said.

"You, too. You take care of him, okay?" T.J. said. Justin got into Storm Blaster and Quinn looked back at T.J. as he said this.

"Of course," she smiled and nodded her head.

"Oh and Justin, I think you should head to the old Power Chamber. There might be some answers there for you," he said, the hint not escaping Justin. With that, T.J. turned around and returned into his home and Justin and Quinn with Storm Blaster left moments later.

The trip back wasn't quite as planned. Rather than going back to the Hospital, Justin convinced Quinn against her better judgement to allow them to check out T.J.'s lead immediately. From what he remembered, the Command Center was blown sky high, overrun with Piranhatrons and Divatox's generals Elgar and Rhygog. He hadn't been back since and wasn't quite sure what T.J. had expected either of them to find.

At any rate, getting to the command center was as simple as taking exit 5b on the interstate. In fact, at some point, Quinn was hysterical thinking they were going to drive straight in a wall at full speed.

"What's happening?" Quinn said, hesitantly. Justin, amused, didn't say anything and she repeated herself quite a few times before finally screaming. As they approached the wall, Storm Blaster became enveloped in a blue light and then they disappeared completely, before reappearing on a dessert and rocky-like terrain with no visible sign of life anywhere.

Storm Blaster continued its way on the sandy road, nowhere but forward to go.

"So what was this place?" Quinn asked.

"This was basically our place of operations. It was always home base. We would plan stategy, we would talk about new developments and we would create new weapons sometimes. It was where we could keep a track on Divatox and get wherever we were needed just in time," Justin explained.

"And it was destroyed?"

"Yeah. We were ambushed and we weren't able to save it," Justin said. Quinn could tell that it was a sore subject for him so she didn't bring it up again, she would wait until she saw it. When they arrived Justin was both surprised and disappointed. Storm Blaster parked at what would be the entrance of the Command Center, but it's hard to imagine it was anything more than the rubble that remains.

"Oh, wow…" Quinn said, at a loss for words. There are giant pieces of concrete, wires and blackened keyboards from the fire of the explosion. "Where are we exactly?"

"I'm not sure to be honest. In America still, I think. Somewhere hot," Justin said. He wasn't kidding. The temperature was easily 100 degrees and the breeze felt like a hairdryer was blowing in their faces.

"No kidding, that salamander over there just quit," Quinn joked, pointing to an unmoving lizard laying in the sand.

Justin continued his search through the wreckage, lifting up old pieces of computer and lighter pieces of debris, finding nothing. The frustration was building. Would it have killed T.J. to be a bit more specific? Quinn looked around as well, but wasn't sure what to look for. Something that stood out – which was everything.

"Nothing…" Justin said definitively under his breath. "This was a waste of time…"

"Don't say that," Quinn said softly, trying to quell his frustration.

"Storm Blaster, are you ready?" Justin called out, normally the vehicle would roar to life in confirmation, however this time it remained silent. "Storm Blaster?" Justin called out again – nothing. It also seemed deadest on Justin finding something there.

"What's this?" Quinn said. In front of his was a small, circular orb of light. It was actually pretty hard to keep focused on. Justin had to blink a couple of times, getting his vision to focus in on it each time. Justin approached, starring at the light orb. He placed his hand over it and felt warmth and for some reason and an inviting compulsion to touch it.

"Do you feel that?" Justin said out loud.

"Yeah," Quinn said. They both exchanged glances and, at the same time, touched the white orb and then were instantly sucked into it. They reappeared in a cold, stone-like hallway, Justin landing on his back and Quinn on her side. "Ouch…" she said, speaking for both of them. Justin got to his feet quickly and then helped Quinn up. He looked around, slightly troubled.

"Where are we?" He asked, the question was clearly rhetorical seeing as how Quinn could only begin to speculate. He kept her behind him and they continued forward down a dark hallway. There was an air of mystery around them that Justin hadn't felt in a long time. It was kind of exhilarating – like when he and the other rangers first boarded the Ghost Galleon. They dead-ended at a door that opened from side to side. It was sealed shut. Justin tried to push it open but to no avail.

"I think it needs a key," Quinn pointed to a strange lock, but the keyhole was something he recognized very well. He held out his hand and without saying a thing, his Turbo key materialized before him. "Whoa…" Quinn said breathlessly. He inserted the key and twisted, the doors opened with a loud _**SWOOSH**_ and revealed an even darker corridor.

Justin removed his key and twisted his left wrist, summoning his wrist morpher in a flash of blue light just in case. As they walked in, some lights began to turn on, revealing a large, almost new power chamber. It was cold and it seemed abandoned. Against the east wall was a large similar tube, similar to Zordon's and Dimetria's. On the west wall were seven tubes, five of them dark, but the other two were red and blue.

"This is strange…" Justin said.

"T.J. wasn't kidding was he?" Quinn added.

"INTRUDER ALERT!" yelled a familiar, robotic voice, but before Justin could look, he found himself thrown across the room, sliding into a wall. He looked up and saw an old friend, sort of. The culprit looked like the Blue Senturian! But he had seen better days. Justin got up slowly initially, but hustled once he saw him going after Quinn.

"Uhh, Justin…" she said with concern as the robotic figure approached her.

"INTRUDER, you will be destroyed!"

"You can't be serious?" Quinn replied. The Blue Senturian reached for her and she met his hand with a kick, knocking it away.

"Blue Senturian, stop!" Justin yelled, but nothing happened. "Mountain Blaster Turbo Power!" Justin placed the key in his morpher and transformed into the Blue Ranger, much to Quinn's amazement. Justin leapt into the air blocked a punch from his old friend, trying to hold him back. "Blue Senturian, it's me, Justin – the Blue Ranger…"

"Stop this," a soft, almost velvet yet authoritative voice echoed throughout the dark chamber. It was exactly the command the Blue Senturion needed to halt his attack, taking a step back and staring blankly at Justin and Quinn. The voice was somewhat familiar. Both he and Quinn looked around and couldn't pinpoint the source.

Suddenly, the entire facility came to life, lights revealing the robust chamber and all it had to offer. Computers, monitors, power packs – it was like Justin was having a déjà vu – and not a bad one.

"I've never seen anything like this…" Quinn said breathlessly, who was holding on Justin's arm tightly. All of the sudden, the large power tube before them illuminated and the familiar, angelic face of Dimetria appeared before them.

"Dimetria…" Justin said in disbelief. If there was one thing he was certain of was that he never thought he would see her again. The interdimensional being, clad is white robes and a white headdress looked before them, staring intently with her deep, blue eyes. Justin wasn't sure what sparked her return to Earth or why, but it couldn't have come at a more opportune moment and hopefully now he would get the answers and the help he needed.

To be continued


	4. Perspective - Part 2

Perspective

Part 2

"Dimetria," Justin said, his voice a combination of enthusiastic and disbelief. Finally, some answers - or so he hoped. He removed his helmet and placed it next to a monitor. The Blue Senturion walked over to the white spectre and bowed his head in respect; Justin looked back at Quinn who seemed to be in awestruck of her presence. She exuded the same grace as before, yet somehow she was a little different. However, the warmth that filled the once dark chamber gave Justin an overwhelming sense of calm that he couldn't explain. It was all too familiar, though.

"No," she said simply. At first, Justin didn't understand what she meant by this. No? What did she mean "No"?

"Huh?" Justin responded awkwardly, it was all he could do given the confusion she presented.

"It's good to see you, Justin," she began, her deep, blue eyes then wondered from Justin to Quinn, "And Justin's friend - welcome."

"This is Quinn, she knows about me - uhhh - about us. But I promise she's very trustworthy, I've known her for years," Justin said.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Justin. I trust your judgement. Welcome, Quinn," she said warmly.

"Hi there," Quinn said, she bowed her head – mostly because she saw the Blue Senturion do it – and then looked at Justin, who didn't bow and also gave her a strange look. She laughed awkwardly and adjusted her posture. "I just wanted to be polite," she whispered. Justin smiled and then returned his attention to his former mentor.

"Dimetria, why are you here?" Justin asked the first of many questions he had, and finally he felt like he was going to get the answers he needed to process the recent on goings of his life.

"Justin, Dimetria isn't here. I am not Dimetria," she said. Quinn's eyes darted to Justin who sported a complete blank stare back at the being of light. Justin opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. "I know this must not make much sense to you. I am not Dimetria, but you do know me. Well, you knew me. I am now called Divanna, an emissary of the planet Inquiris."

"Okay..." Justin said slowly, scratching the back of his head. That was the same planet Dimetria was from, but that didn't help. "I really don't have any idea who you are."

"Before the cleanse of Zordon's light, I was Divatox." Justin's eyes widened in disbelief, his hand almost instinctually reached for his power blaster. Whatever he thought the woman was going to say, it definitely wasn't _that_. Quinn stepped forward, simply aghast.

" _You're_ Divatox? You're the one who took Justin's dad?" Quinn yelled accusatory. Justin, still somewhat paralyzed by that bombshell, turned to look at Quinn with surprise and marveled at her bravery. Not many would stand up like that to an evil monarch - or a once evil monarch.

"I'm not anymore. Admittedly, the same body - yes. But - oh, Justin. I do not want you to be afraid or alarmed. I want to assure you I'm on your side," Divanna said.

"I'm not sure what to believe at the moment," Justin said suspiciously.

"There's much you don't understand," she added.

"Well while don't you enlighten me," Justin snapped back.

"You should speak to Divanna with respect," the Blue Senturion said.

"Respect? Blue Senturion, don't you remember what she has done? What she is capable of?" Justin retorted.

"Justin, he is also not the Blue Senturion. At least, not anymore," Divanna said. Justin took a moment before inhaling a deep breath in an attempt to gain some composure. He exhaled loudly, perhaps even too loudly, but he couldn't help it. With all the changes he felt like he was going through an identity crisis himself, which he really just couldn't deal with.

"My dad was taken by someone who looked a lot like Divatox and also claimed to be her. Sure, there were some differences from what I remember, but for all intents and purposes, it was Divatox. My dad's fiancé is in critical care after a nearly fatal attack on my childhood home. I have no idea what is going on and what I need are some answers. Now," Justin said as calmly as he could.

"I understand," Divanna began. Quinn took a step closer to Justin and slid her arm through his, resting her head on his shoulder as a sign of support. "Let me take you back to where it all started to understand why I'm here and who you're up against. In my formative years, I had no idea I was a twin or had any family that wasn't the evil pirate crew I grew up with. Darkness was indoctrinated into me at such an age that all I wanted was to conquer and to destroy. Eventually I set out on my own and became a notorious space pirate - eventually settling on Earth after chasing the wizard Lerigot and - well, you know the rest."

"Right, you attack Earth, threaten the safety of millions and destroyed our Power Chamber before taking off," Justin filled in the gaps.

"Right, I was summoned by Dark Spectre, the monarch of the Alliance of Evil. He found Zordon and wanted my forces to pursue him on Eltar. This immediately followed the destruction of your Power Chamber on Earth. When we got to Eltar, there was a small resistance. Zordon, of course, wasn't going to come quietly. He had a small force consisting of the Rangers from Aquitar, Trey of Treyforia, The Phantom Ranger, Dimetria, The Blue Senturion, Alpha 5 and some elite royal guards of Eltar. It was a pitiful force in the grand scheme of things, but they proved to be more of a nuisance than not. We needed to divide them. We simultaneously attacked Treyforia and Aquitar, calling their respective rangers home. We then stormed a central stronghold and my forces destroyed Alpha 5 and captured Dimetria, while Astronema's forces apprehended Zordon."

"Oh my gosh..." Quinn said out loud and covered her mouth quickly.

"You captured Dimetria?" Justin asked.

"Yes," she replied. "I believe she wanted to be captured, though. I believe it was her intention to try and break through to me. Dimetria had known for a while that I was her sister. She wanted nothing more than for that bond to be restored."

"And it worked?" Quinn asked.

"No, I'm afraid. I merely mocked her and I'm sorry to say, tortured her. I injected her with pure evil, which was poison to someone of pure light like Dimetria. Over time I became disinterested and focused on growing my army under Dark Spectre - that was until his surprising destruction by the hands of a traitor named Darkanda. Astronema took his place and we then waged war across the galaxy. Arrogantly we were so sure we could win and we weren't anticipating Zordon's sacrifice and what it would do. When Zordon's light hit me, everything changed. I became the person that I felt like I was supposed to be all along."

"Okay," Justin said, accepting the fact that he was talking to the good side of Divatox now. "What happened next?"

"Many things - I found that I was still powerful, but my abilities allowed me to communicate with others on Inquiris. I could let them know my location and Dimetria's. I was most worried about her. Together with the Blue Senturion - or what was left of him, as he took on major casualties in the battle - we arrived on my home planet and I was greeted by my people for the first time in my life. What I didn't know was how Dimetria and I were planet royalty. We were the first set of twins in over a millennium. This was important because of a legend of my people, where two sisters governed the forces of light and brought about an unprecedented era of peace. This prophecy is why I was taken at birth, to prevent this from happening."

"So you and Dimetria were reunited. That's great, but why isn't she here?" Justin asked.

"Let me continue," she said. "Dimetria and I were inseparable. And being twins of the planet Inquiris we had a special bond with each other. When we touched, everything was shared. I know her entire life and she knows mine. Our memories, thoughts, dreams - all shared. Unfortunately, with this gift brought about the unexpected and I'm the only one to blame. The darkness I poisoned her with had some unforeseen, long-lasting side effects. The evil within her was clinging to the dark past of my memories that she now had access to. There was a duality of good and evil within her fighting to take over and it was tearing her apart..."

"Wait...what," Justin was horrified at this point.

"The darkness began to take over, leaving burying Dimetria deep away and bringing out a new identity. One she now knew so well," Divanna said.

"You mean...hold on. Are you telling me that the woman who attacked me and took my father is really...Dimetria?" Justin asked, a panic in his voice and a sense of urgency that demanded the answer.

"Yes," Divanna said. Justin threw his hands up in the air, shaking his head. "I know this is incredibly difficult to understand."

"No, what's difficult to understand is how I'm taking to my old nemesis and somehow she's a paragon of good. But this, my old mentor becoming evil, attacking my family, taking my dad away and threatening to destroy Earth? That's not difficult, Divanna. It's ridiculous! How could this happen?" Justin was yelling at this point.

"Justin," Quinn said his name, not knowing really what else to say, but hoped that it would do something to calm him down.

"No, Dimetria did this to me? She attacked my family...I feel so..." Justin was at a loss for words.

"Betrayed," Divanna said, finishing his thought. Justin didn't disagree.

"So she just turned evil?" Justin asked.

"She became evil, consumed by the darkness that I used to torture her. She Inquiris for herself, but first, she had an insatiable desire to return to Earth, like I promised I would all those years ago, to finish what I started. My people never recovered from such a betrayal and so I made a promise that I would one day return to them with Dimetria and fulfill the prophecy of peace our legacy promised. I didn't come alone, as you can see. My people did what they could for the Blue Senturion, but in repairing him, he assumed a new identity - the Sentry, my personal body guard."

There was a silence between them, yet there was so much to say. Justin didn't know where to begin or what to think, or even if he wanted to. This wasn't an ideal situation. He was forced to trust someone who at one point in his life, wanted to do him the most harm. His once trusted mentor had turned against her own kind and assumed the identity of a pure evil being, more so, she had his father. He was alone. The Sentry, while Divanna's bodyguard, was no Blue Senturion, he could already tell. And Divanna's mission, to free Dimetria from herself...was it possible? Even more importantly, was it the truth? Could he really trust her? His gut was telling him he could, but he also wasn't sure how much he trusted himself at the current moment.

"I know this is a lot to accept, Justin. But with your help, I believe we can stop her and save her from herself. She knows only what I once knew, and I can use that to our advantage. However, she knows this as well, and she'll be very careful. But I know that she will not hesitate to destroy innocent lives in the name of evil, to restore the name of Divatox to its former glory," Divanna said.

"You haven't even apologized," Justin said abruptly, much to Divanna's and Quinn's surprise. "You were Divatox once. You tried to destroy me and everyone important to me on a daily basis. Because of you, Dimetria has become evil."

"I take full responsibility for all of it," Divanna said.

"Right, but you haven't even apologized yet. Taking responsibility is important, but..."

"Justin, I am not that person that did you harm. I do not feel that who I am now, unless due to dark intervention, is capable of doing what Divatox did to you. I do not feel those things, nor do I remember them as my own. They just feel like a bad dream. That being said, I am sorry for what Divatox did to you back then and even now. But I hope that you can also understand that I am no longer Divatox, either."

"I need some time..." Justin said.

"I understand, but we don't have much of it. I predict she will be making a more public move very soon," Divanna said.

"And what do you expect us to do about it? It's just me out there. And Sentry. We don't have a team. The other Turbo Ranger powers were destroyed," Justin replied.

"But they are not lost," Divanna countered. "There are powers out there that can be harnessed. We can assemble a new team around you. As Divatox, I knew where power sources were kept. I can lead you there,"

"I want to help," Quinn spoke up.

"Of course," Divanna was quick to accept this, but Justin immediately shook his head.

"No, Quinn, I don't want you getting hurt," he said.

"I don't want that for you either," she replied.

"There is strength in numbers Justin, together we can stop her before it's too late." Divanna said.

"Too late?" Justin asked.

"At this point, I still firmly believe that Dimetria can be saved. But the longer the darkness gestates within her and she continues down this path, I fear there will be no going back. She tapped into my ambition and my old desires…but she also still possesses her own powers. Powers that I didn't have," Divanna answered. "Time is of the essence."

"Well, that explains that," Justin said sarcastically.

"Please Justin, know that whatever decision you choose I will respect. But I know you. Dimetria gave me the gift of her memories as well, and I know you and I know what's in your heart. You're so much stronger than you know. And I cannot win this without you."

Justin took in another deep breath, closed his eyes and a bright blue light cascaded around him, reverting him back to his civilian clothes. He then exhaled and grabbed his chest, he was still in some pain from his injuries.

"Justin," Quinn sighed and he nodded his head in understanding, he didn't need a lecture.

"I know…we should probably get back to the hospital now," he agreed.

"Of course, I can teleport you there now," Divanna offered, "Mountain Blaster will be waiting outside of the hospital when you're ready.

"Teleport?" was all that Quinn got out of that.

"Oh yeah, get ready…" was all Justin could offer, not knowing how to describe the feeling for the first time.

"Divanna, I will be in contact," Justin said.

"We both will," Quinn added, much to Justin's chagrin.

"May the power protect you," Divanna bowed her head to them and seconds later they were both enveloped by bright lights and pulled out of the command center and transported back to the Hospital, in Justin's room which had the blinds closed and the door shut – conveniently just as he left it.

"Oh, wow," Quinn said, nearly buckling over once she came to. "I feel like…raw on the inside."

"It gets easier," Justin admitted.

"It will," Quinn firmly agreed.

"Quinn…" Justin began and she shushed him.

"Justin, you just shared with me this incredible secret. You have been this hero for years and have had to carry this secret alone for so long. I don't know if I could be a Power Ranger, but if you think I'm not going to help you then you have another thing coming," she said.

"I don't want you to get hurt," Justin said, probably more sentimentally than intended. His feelings for her were extremely hard to suppress when they spent time together like this and now he never felt more close to her. But that was also a problem…he couldn't bear the thought of losing someone that close again.

"Well, it's a good thing my best friend is the Blue Ranger," she replied.

 _Friend_. There it was. Not a bad word, but the defining word of the hour and it might as well have been an elephant dart to the face. Justin smiled and nodded his head. She reached for a quick hug and then turned on her heel and headed for the door.

"I need to get home, but I'm going to try and gather as much research as I can about Divatox – I mean – Dimetria. If anyone's seen anything weird or reminiscent of that behavior years ago. I'll be here tomorrow morning. Please try and get some rest, okay?"

"No promises," Justin said, she laughed, smiled and then walked out of the room. As the door closed behind her, he fell back onto the bed, found a spot on the ceiling and starred at it for a long, extended period of time. The nurses came and went a few times before he finally really sat up again.

He sighed.

How could this have happened? How was this his life right now? And more important, why did he have to make these decisions? At this point in time, he gave more credit to Tommy and T.J. for making the important calls. Justin had no problem following, but he didn't know if he could lead or make the important decisions. All he knew was, everything was wrong and something had to be done.

It would all start with a leap of faith.

Justin stood up from his bedroom and walked out, he headed up the elevator to the ICU to visit Alicia. Maybe she had woken up – he could hope. As he got there, he found her room lights dimmed and her to be in the same shape. She was in a coma and it was completely unfair.

"I'm so sorry, Alicia…" Justin said. He sat down in one of the free seats in her room and continued his thinking. He couldn't give up being a ranger, not now. His father needed him…Alicia needed him.

"She's in that room, right there," said a nurse outside. The next thing Justin heard was the pounding of what sounded like high-heel shoes on the hospitals marble flooring. A thought then entered his mind – a terrifying thought.

"Oh my goodness, Mom!" Justin looked up and saw her long, curly brown hair wind-swept, her outfit being too tight and usually unsuitable as usual and _somehow_ standing in six inch heels in the door way, an appropriate expression of horror on her face. "Justin, how could you not call me?"

"Hi, Prue…" Justin said reluctantly. His soon to be step-sister Prudence wasn't the easiest person to deal with, nor the person he wanted to right now, or ever for that matter.

"Don't even – I can't with you. On a scale from one to even, I can't. I can't even, this happens to my mother, you're here and you can't even call me to let me know - I have to hear about it from the hospital!" she began and Justin felt a headache beginning. She quickly approached her mother's bedside, caressing her hand. Her dark green eyes then darted over to Justin – if looks could kill, he'd be dead. "You have a lot of explaining to do!"

He knew this and he didn't know how he was going to do it.


	5. Discovery Part 1

Discovery

Part 1

If Justin had a dollar for every time Prue used the words "idiot" or the phrase "I can't even", he wouldn't need to worry about the cost of insurance. Thankfully he was covered regardless. Justin watched silently as Prue paced back and forth, unloading her frustrations. His eyes wandered to a few of the nurses outside who seemed all too intimidated to try and calm her. He didn't blame them.

"I'm sorry," Justin said for at least the thirteenth time. When Prue felt like she was wronged, any apology fell on deaf ears. To Prue, an apology didn't fix something and the gesture wasn't appreciated. However, if he didn't try to apologize, she wouldn't let him hear the end of it either.

"Why didn't you call?" she finally asked again, a question he successfully dodged a few minutes earlier - if anything because after all that happened, calling her wasn't his first priority. He left her information with the doctor, they would deal with. Plus, his relationship with Prue wasn't the easiest over the years. His dad adored her and likewise, but Justin and Prue were like oil and water.

"I figured the nurse would call you – I mean, you were reached…"

"Semantics!" Prue yelled back. " _You_ should have called me!"

"I don't know...I've been dealing with a lot myself," he said, making the gesture of him wearing the same patient garbs as the rest of the patients in the hospital.

"I don't even mean for this, I mean - your dad - he was proposing! We were going to be family Justin! I had to hear about it from an email from your father," she said. Only Prue could make this whole thing about her, he would laugh but he knew it would just lead to another uncomfortable argument.

"Well, you go to school in London, Prue. We didn't want to stress you out with the pressure of feeling like you had to be there," Justin answered and she continued shaking her head.

"Had? I would have wanted to be there. It wouldn't be a chore. And newsflash, Justin, what time of year is it? It's Christmas break! The London collegiate system also recognizes a winter break. If you had called me, I could have moved a class around and been a part of it! You just weren't thinking!"

"Yeah, well, it's better off you weren't there, huh?" He couldn't win. He knew this. But if she were there, who knows what would have happened to her. Prue looked at Justin with wide olive eyes and she paused, almost not even considering what would have happened to her if she were present for the attack.

"What happened?" Prue said, her voice finally suitable for indoors, taking a seat next to her mother.

"I got the ring and when I came home…the monsters were there. My dad was barely conscious, your mom was completely unconscious and I thought I was done for…" he wasn't completely lying. There were some obvious details he would have to leave out. "The Blue Ranger saved us…but not my father."

"Your poor dad," Prue said, her voice choking up. "Have there been any leads?" Justin shook his head.

"The police assure me they're on it…but I don't think they have any idea what they're doing," Justin admitted.

"Well, if the Blue Ranger is back, that suggests the Power Rangers are back, right? Surely they'll be able to find him…" Prue said; Justin didn't answer, he just found a place on the ground to stare at. "I just can't believe this happened…" Prue took her mother's hand into her own and rested her head down on them. "You're going to be okay, Mom. I promise you'll be fine," she muttered silently.

"Prue, I'm sorry," Justin said and this time, he really did mean it. She looked up at him and nodded her head.

"Me too, for your father," she said. They sat in silence only for a few more moments before Prue cleared her throat. "I'll be transferring here for the time being. I need to be close to my mother until she recovers."

"Right," was all Justin could say. He hadn't considered what life would be like Prue living closer.

"After all, there should be some pretty prominent dancing programs here. Not nearly as prestigious as mine in London, but I'm sure I'll find something suitable here," she said.

"In Angel Grove?" Justin asked.

"No, Justin, in California," Prue corrected, her voice almost in shock, "Los Angeles, more specifically. Who do you know that has ever come out of Angel Grove successfully?"

"Right, well, I'm just slumming it at Angel Grove University," Justin said flatly; Prue didn't notice this, of course.

"Excuse me," a nurse came in and Justin couldn't be more thankful. "You need to return to your room and visiting hours are over." The nurse cleverly said this without having to look at Prue in the eye and then quickly turned around.

"I guess we should go," Justin said.

"I need to find a place to stay, anyway," Prue said. "My mom's home, for now, I suppose." She got up from her seat and leaned down to kiss her mother on the forehead. She straightened out her outfit and turned to Justin, "I'll be touch."

"Sure, okay," Justin said. They both walked out of the room, into the elevator and Justin left Prue as he reached his floor. They didn't say good-bye. He made his way to his room and all but threw himself on his bed. It wasn't comfortable, but he was so tired he didn't care. All of the thoughts that were consuming him had vanished and he fell into a deep slumber.

Until…

"They give you some good meds, man?" Justin heard Tosh's voice and groaned. He peeked his eyes open slowly, trying to adjust to the light. "Good morning, sunshine – or, afternoon."

"Do they just let anyone in here these days…?" Justin grumbled.

"I just had to lay the moves down on that hotty-hot nurse in there. She couldn't resist saying no to me," Tosh said and Justin's eyes rolled to the back of his head. "You look like a mess, man."

"I'm in a hospital, how would you like me to look?" Justin replied.

"Grumpy-much?" Tosh laughed, "Hey nurse, I think he needs some more of the _good stuff._ The Mariah-Carey-must-sing-tonight good stuff." Justin couldn't help but laugh at that and sat up in his bed.

"Prue is back," he said and Tosh gave Justin a specific look, as if he were looking at a burn victim and trying to be brave.

"That's rough," he said.

"Yeah, she's moving back for a while," Justin added

"Makes sense…but you probably won't have to see her too much."

"Yeah," Justin said, even though he had no idea.

"Oh, good, Mr. Stewart, you're up," said one of the Doctors. He looked at Tosh and then back to Justin, "I have some news, but it really is for you and family."

"Doc, can't you see the family resemblance?" The Doctor said nothing and looked to Justin.

"It's okay, he's family," Justin said.

"Well, Justin, your injuries have healed at an exponential rate. I can't explain it – someone with your injuries when you came in would be in here for weeks, normally."

"I eat my veggies," Justin said dismissively.

"Can't argue with these results. You're a very lucky young man," the Doctor said. "Because of your recovery, we do not need to keep you here any longer. I advise a follow up with your primary care physician in about a week or so, but in about an hour or so you'll be free to go." The doctor was smiling but Justin was not.

Leaving the hospital posed a problem that he hadn't considered yet. His house was all but destroyed. He wasn't really paying attention when his Dad's attorney was going over housing insurance and such but he was pretty sure they weren't going to rebuild the house. He had no money and more so, he had nowhere to go. The doctor left the room and Tosh held up his hand for a high-five that didn't come.

"Shouldn't you be happy? You're okay and you get to leave!" Tosh said.

"Yeah, but where? In essence I just got evicted," Justin said.

"Dude, not at all. You can stay with me."

"Tosh, you live in a Frat-house," Justin said, flatly.

"Not during break. I'm at my parent's summer house. They're in Europe for Christmas or something." Justin forgot how well-off Tosh was. When he was younger, he always had the most elaborate birthday parties. If any of his friends were to offer a place to stay, Tosh was probably the best case scenario. His place was nothing short of a mansion. But still, he didn't feel right about it.

"Tosh, that's really nice of you," Justin began and Tosh shook his head.

"Dude, stop. In all seriousness, you always have a place with me. At least until you get your crap figured out," Tosh said. It wasn't as if he had any fall backs. He didn't want to stay at the command center, especially with old Divatox there.

"Thanks, Tosh," Justin said.

"You bet. Now my right-hand man can help me with my party tonight!" The relief left almost immediately as it came when Tosh said the word _party_.

"Didn't you just have a party?" Justin said. "Like, yesterday in fact?"

"Which I note you didn't come to," Tosh replied.

"I was here," Justin retorted.

"Right, but that was the last party of the year at the Frat-house. Omega Lau Omega always has a great send-off," he argued.

"So then what's tonight's party for?" Justin asked.

"Do you need a reason? We're on break! It's our final months before we really have to commit to adult-hood," Tosh said and Justin shook his head.

"Plus, I mean – look, you know more than anyone how much bad shit happens these days. Your dad, your house – we should be trying to enjoy and create any good moments we can while we can."

"I just don't know if I'm ready for a party yet," Justin said.

"It'll be low-key. Plus, Shelby's been worried about you and she'll be thrilled to see you," Tosh said.

"Alright," Justin said. "Thanks, Tosh."

"Don't mention it," Tosh said. He then went into detail regarding his party ideas and Justin began to gather the little things he had, awaiting the nurse to come discharge him.

* * *

If there was a way that Quinn could prove herself useful, she would. And if it just so happened that she also received some kind of journalistic satisfaction out of it at the same time, well, that was a bonus. Justin felt completely alone, his father missing, his family tore apart, his once friend now his enemy - it was a lot! Thank goodness finals were over.

The "Caution; Do Not Enter" signs were mere suggestions to Quinn at this point in her career. No one won a Pulitzer by acknowledging boundaries. She looked around and with the coast clear she maneuvered herself through the tape and continued down the sandy path of Angel Grove Beach, which was ironically closed after the unidentified object entered the ocean. Yet the news affiliates were spinning it for a safety training for new life guards. The fact that the beach never had lifeguards told her that if anyone believed that, they were idiots.

She ducked low behind a tall grassy patch just before the sand and saw Angel Grove P.D. units all over. Looking to her left, she saw a small hill that she could lay on and get a better view. She crept through the sand as slowly as she could to not bring any attention and then lowered herself completely to the ground, army crawling her way up the hill. From her purse she pulled out her camera and adjusted the view.

"Alright, what do we have here," she said as she focused the lens. Her view traveled from the officers on the beach, all the way out to a speedboat. There was an officer looking over an edge and then what looked like a scuba diver emerging from the water and handing the offer a chain. The officer began to pull and the scuba diver helped secure and load what looked like a body bag - a really big body bag onto it.

"You don't see that every day," Quinn mused to herself. She zoomed in as much as she could, focusing on the name-tag of the officer on the boat - Robbins. Easy enough. She took a photo. Her attention was then drawn to the sound of a large vehicle approaching the beach and her focus zeroed in on the logo: AGU - Angel Grove University. Interesting - she thought.

A man got out of the vehicle, she recognized him as head of their Forensics and Anthropology department, Dr. Connor Ghast. The speed boat got as close to shore as it could and officers maneuvered themselves in a way to get the body bag off of the boat, leading it to the back of the truck. The back doors opened and a younger man in a lab coat jumped out; Quinn gasped.

"Izzy Davis; what are you doing here?" she asks herself as the plot thickens. Izzy is one of her long-time friends, though their relationship has been tested as she's used classified information from him before in some of her stories. It's not as if she actually cited him, the source was anonymous, but Izzy always knew. And he wasn't appreciative. That being said, this could be best case scenario if they're taking it back to the university.

Quinn slithered her way away from the scene and back to her car. She watched in the distance as the vehicles left the vicinity and she followed behind at a careful distance. Sure enough, they arrived at Angel Grove University. She watched from her car as the officers unloaded what was necessary and waited about fifteen minutes before deciding to proceed. She gave herself a once over in her rearview mirror and grabbed what appeared to be a sack-lunch bag from her passenger seat and exited her car.

As she approached the building, she found a guard who seemed about as pleasant and inviting as a Pit-Bull. Quinn remained cool and didn't make eye contact with the guard and approached the situation as if she were going to walk through those doors regardless.

"Excuse me, miss," The guard said, in predictably low, authoritative voice. Quinn feigned surprise as she was stopped

"Yes sir?" she responded politely.

"This building is restricted, I can't let you in," he said, sternly.

"Restricted? This is a university," Quinn replied.

"Not today, it's not," he said.

"I'm here for my dad," Quinn said. "He didn't get to his lunch today, said he was spending all day at the beach or something like that for work. So I brought him a sack lunch." The guard raised an eye-brow to Quinn and took the back from her hands and opened it.

"It's Peanut-butter and jelly – grape if you must know," Quinn said.

"Who is your father?" The guard asked.

"Professor Kline," Quinn said quickly, not even sure if he was married or had kids. He was the other only professor she knew of in this department and ironically, he didn't like her too much.

"I need to get authorization," the guard said.

"Are you serious?" Quinn said, completely aghast.

"King to Control," he said into his earpiece and it took all of the discipline in the world for Quinn to not break character and laugh at this moment. King? As if. "Yeah, do we have a Dr. Kline on this project? Yes, his daughter is here to deliver his lunch supposedly. Uh huh, got it." He then turned his attention back to Quinn.

"So?" Quinn inquired, snatching the lunch back from his hands.

"Can't verify if he has a daughter," King said.

"Are you kidding me? Please, please do not let me make that phone call to him while he's busy so that he can come out to your control room and embarrass the hell out of you. Do you know what his contributions are to this school? And I'm assuming to this project as whoever you're working for is utilizing him? Sure. It's the holidays. He works long hours anyway, and he wanted his daughter who he hardly gets to see bring him lunch. I hardly see how this is a federal case." Quinn pulled out her phone and it made him very nervously.

"Okay, okay – no need for that," King said. "Okay, just head straight for his office and don't disturb anything or anyone."

"I'm not a child, of course, I won't," Quinn lied. He opened the door and she didn't hesitate in walking in.

"Thank you for your help," Quinn said, she then turned on her heel with a huge grin. Another convincing ruse. She knew exactly where she was going, too. She took the stairs up the second floor and turned toward the student lab, which was surprisingly not guarded. She passed by a lab and saw man with short, curly blonde hair, a round face and glasses sitting behind a monitor; it was Izzy. Through the window, it seemed like he was the only one in there. She knocked on the door and Izzy looked over, his face shocked with surprise.

He looked around before getting up and walking to the door. He was wearing an official lab coat, the same he was wearing on the beach. It wasn't the schools. Izzy opened the door reluctantly.

"Quinn?" he said with hesitation.

"Hey Izzy," Quinn said as she slinked her way passed him and into the room. This troubled Izzy.

"You can't be in here," Izzy said, nervously.

"That's not what the guard outside said – King, I believe," Quinn said.

"You got passed King?" Izzy's eyes were wide with surprise. "How'd you do that?"

"I just brought my dad some lunch – Professor Kline," Quinn admitted.

"You're relentless, all for a story," Izzy said, almost disgusted.

"I can assure you, Izzy, this is not for a story," Quinn countered.

"I've heard that before," Izzy said.

"I'm going to need you to not sound so resentful. Izzy, water under a bridge. We've been friends for years," Quinn pointed out.

"Yeah, but lately only when you want something or it's convenient for you," Izzy said.

"That's not true…" That statement really hurt Quinn.

"Why are you here?" Izzy asks, dismissing her last statement.

"Why is the University involved with the authorities?" Quinn asked.

"Above my paygrade to know – and I don't get paid, for the record," Izzy said.

"Again, this isn't for a story." Izzy shook his head and walked back over to his monitor.

"Izzy, please – this is for a friend. It's for Justin – Justin Stewart. His dad was taken from him and he was attacked and I just – I just want to help. I understand that I'm hilariously unqualified but I know things. I feel like I have a few of the puzzle pieces and I can't do it by myself." Quinn's voice was desperate, which wasn't something Izzy was used to hearing from her in all the years he's known her. Izzy turned around, still unsure, "Izzy, I promise I'm not going to write a story on this. I'm just trying to find answers."

Izzy, not good with emotions, relented and made a gesture with his hand for Quinn to come along and Quinn followed. She couldn't see this from her view before, but whatever was in the sea was in this cat-scan looking thing in a glass room before them. "Whoa…what the hell is that," she asks, frightened. The creature, it looked familiar, like the foot soldiers that Divatox used to send to attack Angel Grove. But this was double in size and had lacerations all over it.

"We don't know," Izzy said matter-of-factly.

"That was in the ocean - is it connected to what landed in the ocean the other day?" Quinn asked.

"How do you know this?" Izzy said, flabbergasted. "Not directly related, there was an altercation. There was this alleged yellow vehicle that was being pursued. A motorcycle or something but there wasn't a driver on it."

"Okay…" said Quinn, unsure of what that had to do with anything.

"This thing was pursuing the motorcycle and our authorities were pursuing this thing. We managed to detain the motorcycle. That's here. This thing got away, we then got an anonymous tip that this thing got into an altercation with the Power Rangers and was left for dead. So we got down there and brought it here for investigating," Izzy said.

"The Power Rangers? You mean the Blue Ranger?" Quinn pressed, only Justin would have been able to fight him and he was with her last night.

"No, we were told all of the rangers," Izzy said. Quinn's stomach sank and her face became pale.

"What's wrong?" Izzy asked, noting her sudden change.

"The motorcycle is here?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah, on the sixth floor. A lot of the doctors are up there now," Izzy replied.

"Izzy, the Power Rangers _aren't_ back. You were set up," Quinn said.

Just then, an alarm sounded off and the creature in the machine began moving around, trying to break out of its space.

"You're telling me, it wanted us to catch it?" Izzy asked, Quinn didn't say anything. "It wanted the motorcycle…and it knew we had it…" Izzy deduced. The doors to the lab burst open with two guards, each of them looking at Quinn.

"You shouldn't be here – and you need to get out of here," One of the guards said, the latter part was to Izzy specifically. The creature burst from his confines with a roar. It picked up a piece of the machine and threw it at its glass surroundings, shattering it instantly, sending shards of glass all over the lab. The creature didn't hesitate in charging forward. One of the guards attempted to sub-due him and failed miserably, with the guard being thrown into a wall like a rag-doll.

"What the hell…" Izzy said in disbelief.

"You two get out of here now," said the remaining guard who had a gun and began opening fire. This was also to no avail as the monster back-handed the guard and sent him flying to the glass-shard ground.

"We need to get out of here…" Izzy said. Quinn looked down at the table next to her and noticed what seemed to be a small lighter."

"Izzy, is that a lighter?"

"No, well, yes, it's a torch, much stronger than normal lighter flame," he affirmed.

"A yes would have been fine," She quickly grabbed it and pulled out some perfume from her purse. Once the creature got closer, she clicked the torch on and a small flame emerge and then she sprayed the perfume through it in the monsters direction, creating a small inferno cloud, hitting the creature in the face. It grabbed its face in pain and began running into things and knocking things over; it slipped and landed on glass shards, only adding to its pain.

"Let's get out of here," Izzy took Quinn's hand and led her out of the lab.

"We need to get to the sixth floor," Izzy stopped running in his tracks and looked back at her.

"We need to get out of here, Quinn. We'll only be more trouble," Izzy insisted.

"Then you leave, this thing is going to hurt a lot of people if they're not warned. And I can't let then have that motorcycle!" Quinn said; the lab doors burst open behind them with a roar-like thunder, more glass shards filling the hallways. The creature emerges, stops and turns to look at Quinn. It's face fleshy and scorched at the same time.

"Oh, he looks pissed," Izzy said.

"Sixth floor, now!" Without hesitation, Izzy took Quinn's hand and led her around the corner to the nearest staircase with the creature in pursuit.

* * *

In Mountain Blaster, Justin rode behind Tosh. The warm California breeze hitting his face was refreshing. For the first time in days, he felt content. This was fleeting, of course. A sound that was reminiscent of his old communicator came from Mountain Blasters speaker and the radio lit up; Justin turned the volume up.

"Justin," Divanna's voice came through loud and clear. "This is a one-way signal, so please listen." Justin had half the mind to turn it down completely, "Quinn's in trouble." And then his heart sank.

"What?" Jusitn said out loud, even though Divanna couldn't hear him.

"She's at your school in the Forensic Building. The Angel Grove Authorities have acquired a monster under false pretenses. They also have Street Lancer in their possession. My guess is that Divatox is after Street Lancer and let them capture one of her own only to get closer to it."

"Street Lancer?" Justin repeated and Mountain Blaster began making sounds that Justin associated with urgency. Great, just great – he thought. "What did Quinn get herself into this time?" He said.

"This creature is a new creation of Divatox's and is capable of massive destruction. Please hurry." The message ended and Justin's hands clinched into fists. He didn't want this at all.

"Alright Mountain Blaster, to Angel Grove University, quickly!" The car took control of the drive and immediately began bobbing and weaving through traffic, eventually passing Tosh who attempted to follow for a short time.

"Hang on, Quinn. I'm coming…"


End file.
